LONDON — Earlier this week, Kerri Walsh Jennings was irked by a reporter’s question about her age. He was asking if — because she’s 33 and partner Misty May-Treanor just turned 35 — they were playing differently because they’d lost other parts of their game physically.
“I know we’re way better than eight years ago, we’re better than four years ago,” Walsh Jennings replied. “And the field is way better, so we need to rise even higher. Thirty-three is not old…”
She ended the statement with a smile and a name not fit for print.
If it was hard to believe this team was better now — entering the London Games having won just one tournament in six tries — than it was four years ago — entering the Beijing Games on a 101-match winning streak — it’s not so difficult anymore. Facing their toughest opponent yet at Horse Guards Parade, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings crushed Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Greta Cicolari on Sunday night (21-13, 21-13) to book a spot in the semifinals.
The previous night, when the Americans crushed an also-stout Dutch team, they spoke of how they were in attack mode. May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings keyed in on the Netherlands’ Marleen Van Iersel, forcing the 24-year-old into a game she’ll want back for another four years.
Sunday night, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings focused their relentless attack on Italy’s 21-year-old Menegatti. With Walsh’s blocking and May’s digging in fine form, Menegatti could only connect on eight of her 30 attack attempts. The Americans so frustrated the youngster — who says May-Treanor was her childhood idol — that she actually began crying during a timeout in the second set.
“(Crying) is not what you want to do but that’s by us being aggressive,” May-Treanor said. “She’s probably like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ And that’s how you get teams in trouble. You know, she’s a young player and she’ll learn. She has no reason to hold her head down whatsoever.”
“I definitely knew she was emotional,” Walsh Jennings said. “I could feel it and I could see it. But to me that’s not a sign of weakness. She wants it that bad and she puts her whole heart into it… She had really high expectations, and that’s why she’s so good. She just had a bad game.”
Their opponents are having a lot of those lately.
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